Posted on 11/27/2017 1:44:30 PM PST by sparklite2
The inspiration for the research first came to Boreyko when he was sitting in traffic one day. Noticing that cars had to wait for the car in front of them to regain a safe spacing before they could start moving again, he hypothesized that, contrary to popular opinion, it might actually be better for cars to stop farther apart from each other when idling at a traffic light.
Analysis showed that the time required for all cars to pass through remained relatively fixed, give or take about one second, for spacing distances up to 25 feet.
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...
Too many drivers do not leave gaps like they should and too many do not scan far enough down the road ahead of them.
Rant done.
Big spaces between waiting cars also cut off access to right and left turn lanes that begin closer to the intersection, causing even more gridlock.
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You ain’t lying!
How many times have we been but a few feet away from getting completely into that turn lane, but for some oblivious doofus who won’t move up just 5 feet. (They have 20 feet to spare.)
Grrr
During LA’s freeway shootings, I got very
leery of having anyone moving beside me at
the same speed I was traveling. I saw a
bumper sticker in those days that said,
“Honk if you’re reloading.”
And they cruise in my blind spot!
In general, they’re all in my way!!!!!!
Even better is the idiot who stops one car length from the stopline, especially in the left hand turn lane. “Gee, why don’t I get the green arrow?”
I've heard that as the definition of a "New York Second".
Oftentimes people might keep a 25 foot buffer so as to allow someone in or out of the driveway. They see someone trying to get on the access road from the shopping center, so they think they’re doing a kindness by letting them in.
In reality they are jerks by holding up the line and NOT allowing the 10-15 cars behind them to move on.
Jerks.
Yes, what you said. And people get VERY ticked off, if they cannot get into the turn lanes, because those going straight are spaced out ridiculously.
Did this guy take into consideration human reaction time? As the first driver in line, they keep their eye on the signal, but if the driver of the following car keeps his eye on the lead car’s tail lights then you create a larger gap. If that same driver is also watching the signal, then they are not reacting to the car in front and will accelerate on the light change and reduce the gap and potentially rear end the lead car.
Traffic flow theory works on reacting the other car’s taillights.
I do that, too, but only if I’m near the tail end of my traffic ‘packet.’
I like to leave what I consider adequate room, but 25 feet is probably too much. When the main lanes get filled it blocks the cars trying to get into the turning lane(s), and this just makes a mess of the whole intersection.
I have always felt one of the things I can control is the space in-front of my vehicle and I keep that as wide as possible be it standing or under way. Standing I will not leave a void large enough for someone else to fill.
“Noticing that cars had to wait for the car in front of them to regain a safe spacing before they could start moving again...”
Here in Seattle the mode seems to be to leave 15 feet between cars, wait until the next car is 30 feet ahead, then go. And when turning, always go into the lane farthest away from you. The intent is so that three cars can turn left during the green light, and to block any on-coming right-turning traffic.
I leave just barely enough room to turn and escape - usually. In heavy traffic I’m on the person’s bumper. And going through the intersection I’m 5 feet from them going through the intersection. I know that is risky, but it pisses me off to see my first paragraph happen ALL THE TIME. (Exception - in gridlock I make sure I can clear the intersection, although that runs the risk of somebody changing lanes and them blocking it).
And don’t even get me started on traffic in the rain in Seattle. One would think most people would be used to driving in the rain here - it is unbelievable how much everybody slows down with a little bit of rain.
I follow that rule & it has served me well. The extra space is just enough to pull out from behind a stalled car, or one where the driver doesn’t turn on his left-turn signal until after you pull in behind him. That has often saved a bit of time, and a lot of aggravation.
The time saved is the amount of space between you and the car in front *after* you start moving.
“...completely offset by the time it took for cars to regain a comfortable spacing before drivers could accelerate.”
Ah-Ha! The truth revealed.
They are presuming all will wait until the car in front of them will move ahead a “safe distance” before starting to move themselves.
This is bogus. Especially for short lights, you start moving as soon as the other guy does, maintaining the close distance.
Their model used doesn’t reflect reality.
Typical.
As an authorized defensive driving instructor, all I can say is, “DUH!”
However, 25’ is an excessive amount of space to recommend. My training says that you should leave the length of your car between your front bumper and the rear bumper ahead (12’-18’ is the average length of American cars). It used to be “see the tires of the car in front of you touch the road; however, that rule of thumb was written when you had 9’ of hood space and 7’ of trunk space. I can be in a full size 2017 Chevrolet van and see the tires of a Smart Car touching the road from about three feet away - LOL!
More importantly, if we would all do a better job of looking further up the road, we could time and pace traffic lights to avoid stopping at most of them.
If you inch forward and just touch the rear bumper of the car in front of you. If you are rear-ended, all the energy will pass thru your car. The car in front will absorb all the energy, fly forward while you are standing still.
RIGHT! In Omaha, they have set up cameras in a good number of intersections, to detect if there are left-turners. If you are not pulled up far enough, the arrow will never activate.
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